Money transfer transactions via pre-paid wireless communication devices

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for performing money transfer transactions via a wireless communication device, such as a cellular phone, are provided. The wireless communication device may be associated with, or automatically linked to, at least one payment source account. The wireless communication device may be associated with at least one pre-paid payment source account. In one example, the wireless communication device is a pre-paid cellular phone and/or is associated with a pre-paid money transfer account. The wireless communication device may access a pre-directed phone number, e.g., *55, to access a money transfer service provider. Once connected to a money transfer service provider, a user may initiate a money transfer via the wireless device, which is optionally paid to a payee in-person at a money transfer service provider location.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/462,223, filed Aug. 3, 2006, and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 8,510,223, on Aug. 13, 2013, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference, for all purposes, as if fully setforth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An ever-increasing amount of commerce is being done via automatedtechnologies, and unique ways to send money are being devised to easethe flow of money for automated and online transactions. Inherent toautomated and online transactions, the parties never meet in person suchthat the parties enjoy a certain amount of anonymity. Criminals findcomfort in this anonymity which is reflected in the fraud statistics foronline transactions.

To capitalize upon online commerce, while reducing the fraud risk, newmethods of payment authentication have been devised. There are addressverification services that check the address provided against thebilling address with the credit card company. Modern credit cards have acard verification value (CVV) code imprinted on the back or front of thecredit card that is not part of the credit card number (VISA™ refers tothe code as CVV2, MasterCard™ calls it CVC2, and American Express™ callsit CID). Authenticating that the buyer has the proper CVV code tends toshow the buyer physically has the card. Similarly, some authenticate thecustomer service number on the credit card.

Some credit cards have an embedded semiconductor chip that can havevarious features to reduce the risk of fraud. These new cards are calledsmart cards. A card reader is necessary at the Internet terminal thepurchaser is using to take advantage of the smart card feature. Incertain countries, the adoption of smart cards is at insignificantlevels.

One type of online transaction subject to the above fraud concerns isthe sending of money using online or telephone based payment to fund thetransfer. For example, there are services offered by WesternUnion.com™that allow using a credit/debit card to make money available for pickupat a retail Western Union™ location. As the money can be paid out almostimmediately, authentication of the sender and their card is important toreduce the risk of fraud. Once the money is picked-up, the true owner ofthe card may dispute the charge leaving little chance of recovery.

As such, there is a need for systems and methods to ensure properauthentication of users and funding of money transfers in money transfertransaction initiated via the telephone.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally provides systems and methods forperforming money transfer transactions via a wireless communicationdevice, such as a cellular phone, blackberry, palm pilot, or similarpersonal communication device. In accordance with the invention, thewireless communication device is associated with, or automaticallylinked to, at least one automatic payment source account (i.e., thewireless communication device is associated with at least one paymentsource account that may be automatically charged for payment of accountbalances, authorized charges, money transfers, etc.). In a preferredembodiment, the wireless communication device is associated with atleast one pre-paid payment source account. In one example, the wirelesscommunication device is a pre-paid cellular phone and/or is associatedwith a pre-paid money transfer account. In certain aspects, the wirelesscommunication device may access a pre-directed phone number, e.g., *55,to access a money transfer service provider. Once connected to a moneytransfer service provider, a user may initiate a money transfer via thewireless device, which may optionally be paid to a payee in-person at amoney transfer service provider location.

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a method forperforming a money transfer transaction via a wireless communicationdevice is provided. The method generally comprises, a user accessing amoney transfer service provider from a wireless communication device andproviding personal identification information to the money transferservice provider via the wireless communication device. In accordancewith the invention, at least a portion of the personal identificationinformation is automatically provided based on user profile informationassociated with the wireless communication device account. The moneytransfer service provider then verifies personal identificationinformation based at least in part on the user profile informationassociated with the wireless communication device account.

The user further provides money transfer instructions to the moneytransfer service provider via the wireless communication device. Themoney transfer instructions generally include at least the amount of themoney transfer transaction, the recipient of the money transfertransaction, and the destination of the money transfer transaction. Incertain embodiments, the recipient of the money transfer transaction maybe an individual. In other embodiments, the recipient may be a financialservices organization, such as a bank, a credit card, etc. In yet otherembodiments, the recipient may be a consumer service provider, such as autility company, wireless telecommunication service provider,restaurateur, consumer retail store, etc. The destination of the moneytransfer transaction may be, e.g., a geographic location, bank accountinformation, credit card account information, consumer service provideraccount information (e.g., utility company account information, wirelesstelecommunication service provider account information, restaurateuraccount information, consumer retail store account information, etc.).

The money transfer service provider then verifies the at least onepayment source account status associated with the wireless communicationdevice and determines if the amount of the money transfer transactionrequested may be charged against the payment source account associatedwith the wireless communication device account. In accordance with theinvention, the money transfer service provider authorizes the moneytransfer transaction if the at least one payment source accountassociated with the wireless communication device may be charged therequested amount or declines the money transfer transaction if the atleast one payment source account associated with the wirelesscommunication device may not be charged the requested amount. In certainembodiments, the at least one payment source account is a pre-paid moneytransfer account.

If authorized, the money transfer service provider charges the at leastone payment source account associated with the wireless communicationdevice at least the amount of the money transfer transaction, andtransmits information concerning the money transfer transaction to amoney transfer facilitator for completion of the money transfertransaction.

Systems for performing money transfer transactions via a wirelesscommunication device are also provided.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent uponreading the detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a money transfer system in accordance with anembodiment of the invention, with optional components indicated with adashed line.

FIG. 2 illustrates a money transfer transaction method in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention, with optional steps indicated witha dashed line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms.

The present invention generally provides systems and methods forperforming money transfer transactions via a wireless communicationdevice, such as a cellular phone, blackberry, palm pilot, or similarpersonal communication device. In accordance with the invention, thewireless communication device is associated with, or automaticallylinked to, at least one payment source account (i.e., the wirelesscommunication device is associated with at least one payment sourceaccount that may be automatically charged for payment of accountbalances, authorized charges, money transfers, etc.). In a preferredembodiment, the wireless communication device is associated with atleast one pre-paid payment source account. In one example, the wirelesscommunication device is a pre-paid cellular phone and/or is associatedwith a pre-paid money transfer account. In certain aspects, the wirelesscommunication device may access a pre-directed phone number, e.g., *55,to access a money transfer service provider. Once connected to a moneytransfer service provider, a user may initiate a money transfer via thewireless device, which may optionally be paid to a payee in-person at amoney transfer service provider location.

In accordance with the invention, once the user accesses the moneytransfer service provider, the user provides personal identificationinformation to the money transfer service provider via the wirelesscommunication device. To aid in authentication of the user and tominimize fraud, at least a portion of the personal identificationinformation is automatically provided to the money transfer serviceprovider based on user profile information associated with the wirelesscommunication device account, and verified by the money transfer serviceprovider based at least in part on the user profile informationassociated with the wireless communication device account.

Money transfer instructions are also provided to the money transferservice provider via the wireless communication device. The moneytransfer instructions generally include at least an amount of the moneytransfer transaction, a recipient of the money transfer transaction, andthe destination of the money transfer transaction. The money transferservice provider then verifies the status of the at least one paymentsource account associated with the wireless communication device todetermine if the amount of the money transfer transaction requested maybe charged to at least one of the payment source accounts associatedwith the wireless communication device If the charge is verified, themoney transfer service provider then authorizes the money transfertransaction, and charges at least the amount of the money transfertransaction to the verified payment source account(s). The moneytransfer service provider then transmits information concerning themoney transfer transaction for completion of the money transaction.

More particularly, in certain embodiments, the recipient of the moneytransfer transaction may be an individual. In other embodiments, therecipient may be a financial services organization, such as a bank, acredit card, etc. In yet other embodiments, the recipient may be aconsumer service provider, such as a utility company, wirelesstelecommunication service provider, restaurateur, consumer retail store,etc. The destination of the money transfer transaction may be, e.g., ageographic location, bank account information, credit card accountinformation, consumer service provider account information (e.g.,utility company account information, wireless telecommunication serviceprovider account information, restaurateur account information, consumerretail store account information, etc.). As such, in certainembodiments, the money transfer transaction may be made directly to thebank account of a financial services organization, a consumer serviceprovider, or an individual; may be made directly to the account ofanother wireless communication device; may be made at a retail locationin proximity of the geographic location of an individual recipient; maybe used to pay a consumer bill; etc.

In certain aspects, the at least one payment source account may be apre-paid wireless communication device account that is used to pay forusage of the wireless communication device. Such payment source accountsmay be purchased and “charged” with value at the time of purchase andactivation of the wireless communication device, or may be “topped-up”after purchase and activation of the wireless communication device asdesired by the user, as known in the art.

In alternative embodiments, the payment source account may be pre-paidmoney transfer account which is associated with the wirelesscommunication device. Again, such pre-paid money transfer accounts maybe purchased and “charged” with value at the time of purchase andactivation of the wireless communication device, or may be “topped-up”after purchase and activation of the wireless communication device asdesired by the user. By way of example, a stored value card or instantissue debit card may be purchased at a retail location to “top-up” apre-paid money transfer account associated with a wireless communicationdevice, and paid for at the retail location via cash, check, creditcard, debit card, automated teller machine (ATM) card, etc.Alternatively, the value of a pre-paid money transfer account may beincreased via telephone or on-line “top-up” services using credit card,debit card, ATM card, etc.

In certain embodiments, a risk related to a likelihood that thetransaction will complete successfully may also be evaluated. Forinstance, the personal identification information of a payor may beevaluated and authenticated. Validating that the payment source accountinformation is associated with a valid user of the wirelesscommunication device may also be performed.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an embodiment of a moneytransfer system 100 of the invention is shown. In this embodiment, thepayor 110 can send money to a payee 130 that is optionally available forpick-up at any of a number of retail locations 140. Depending onauthorization, the money may be available in a few minutes withautomated authorization or a few hours with manual authorization. Inthis way, the payor 110 can make money available to the payee 130 in10-15 minutes despite any large geographical separation between thepayor 110 and payee 130. Included in the money transfer system 100 are awireless communication device 120, a telecommunication network 150, amoney transfer service provider 170, an optional failure risk scoringservice (FRSS) 185 and authentication service 180, money transferfacilitator 160, and optionally one or more retail location(s) 140.

The payor 110 uses a wireless communication device 120 to contact themoney transfer service provider 170 over a telecommunication network150, e.g., using a predirected telephone number such as *55. Thetelecommunication network 150 may be any suitable telecommunicationnetwork appropriate for use by wireless communication devices, such ascellular phones. In various embodiments, the wireless communicationdevice 120 may be any suitable wireless communication device associatedwith at least one payment source account known in the art, such as acellular phone associated with at least one pre-paid account source, andmay include a web browser function or custom application software tofacilitate money transfer requests.

The money transfer service provider 170 manages operation of the moneytransfer system 100. Once connected to the money transfer serviceprovider 170 via the telecommunication network 150, the payor 110provides personal identification information to authenticate identity asa valid user of the wireless communication device and as a authorizeduser of the at least one payment source account associated with thewireless communication device to which the money transfer transactionwill be charged. The payor 110 also provides money transferinstructions, such as payee information and transaction amountinformation, to initiate a transfer to payee 130.

In authenticating the identity of payor 110, at least some of thepersonal identification information is provided to the money transferservice provider 170 automatically based on user profile informationassociated with the wireless communication device 120. Automaticinformation provided based on a user profile associated with thewireless communication device may include, e.g., wireless communicationdevice owner identification information, owner identificationverification information, device account billing information,pre-authorized money transfer service user information, pre-authorizedmoney transfer recipient information, etc. In certain embodiments, theuser profile information which may be automatically obtained by themoney transfer service provider 170 may include the wirelesscommunication device phone number (e.g., as obtained by automatedmethods such as automated number identification (ANI)), accountinformation associated with the wireless communication device, a userID, a password, a PIN, a driver's license number, a payor's name, anaddress, a social security number or portion thereof, a maiden name, amothers maiden name, an age, a date of birth, and/or other personalidentification information.

The money transfer service provider 170 may authenticate the identity ofpayor 110 by, e.g., verifying the personal identification informationprovided by payor 110, including the information automatically providedbased at least in part on user profile information associated with thewireless communication device 120. The personal identificationinformation may be verified in any suitable manner known in the art. Forinstance, the payor 110 may provide a PIN, password, biometrics reading,or other personal information associated with the user profile to themoney transfer service provider 170 to verify identify. In otherembodiments, the payor 110 may provide secondary personal identificationinformation in addition to the information automatically provided viathe wireless communication device user profile. The secondary personalidentification information may then be verified, e.g., as describedbelow with reference to the FRSS 185 system.

Following identity verification and authentication of payor 110 (or inconnection with authentication of payor 110), payor 110 will generallyprovide money transfer instructions to the money transfer serviceprovider 170 via the wireless communication device 120. The moneytransfer instructions include at least the amount of the money transfertransaction, the recipient, i.e., payee 130, of the transaction, andoptionally the physical location of the payee 130 and/or payment accountassociated with the payee 130. In certain embodiments, the instructionsmay generally include a payee identifier to indicate the recipient ofthe transaction. The payee identifier can be any group of charactersthat identifies the payee 130, such as a name, an e-mail address, a testphrase, an account number, and/or an identification number. Payeeidentifier information may also include the physical, i.e., geographic,location of the recipient. Again, in certain non-limiting examples,payee 130 may be an individual, a financial services organization (e.g.,a bank, a credit card, etc.), or a consumer service provider, (e.g., autility company, wireless telecommunication service provider,restaurateur, consumer retail store, etc.) Further, if desired, payeeinformation and/or payee identifier information may be obtained from thememory of the wireless communication device, e.g., the address book ofthe wireless communication device. In certain embodiments, the wirelesscommunication may include a custom application software, as mentionedabove, which includes instruction requests to the payor regardingobtaining payee identification information from the wirelesscommunication device address book.

The money transfer transaction instructions may be provided in anysuitable manner, such as text messaging, interactive voice response(IVR), direct verbal interaction with a customer service representative(CSR), an internet-based browser, and combinations thereof. Further, theinstructions may, in part, be provided based on information stored inthe user profile associated with the wireless communication device 120.For instance, payee identifier information may be stored in a userprofile for quick retrieval during money transfer transactions. In otherembodiments, payee identifier information may be obtained by automaticmethods such as ANI look-up. For instance, following completion of aphone call using the wireless communication device, a payor 110 mayconnect with a money transfer service provider 170 and request a moneytransfer transaction, wherein a payee 130 is identified as the personassociated with the last number dialed or the last call received.Automatic methods such as ANI may then be used to obtain informationabout the payee 130 based on the call log information associated withthe wireless communication device user profile.

During the course of the money transfer transaction, the money transferservice provider 170 verifies the status of the at least one paymentsource account associated with the wireless communication device 120.The status of the payment source account may be verified based at leastin part on information in the user profile. In certain aspects,verification of payment source account status including authenticationof the account. During authentication of the payment source account, themoney transfer service provider 170 authenticates the payor 110 as anauthorized user of the account, i.e., as a person authorized to chargeagainst the account. By way of non-limiting example, the account may beauthenticated based on, e.g., PIN, password, account name, maiden name,mother's maiden name, zip code, etc. The money transfer service provider170 may authenticate the account at any time following the point whenthe payor 110 accesses the money transfer service provider 170 via thewireless communication device 120. For instance, the money transferservice provider 170 may authenticate the account during payor 110verification and authentication. Alternatively, the account may beauthenticated in connection with the final steps of account verificationdescribed below, following payor 110 verification.

The payment source account information associated with the wirelesscommunication device may include a pre-paid account, e.g., paid with anyform of tender at a retail location, or may be a credit/debit account orbank account linked to the wireless communication device with automaticcharging through the wireless communication device account. Again, thepre-paid account may be a pre-paid money transfer account.

During account verification, the money transfer service provider 170also determines if the amount of the money transfer transactionrequested may be charged to payment source account associated with thewireless communication device 120. If the charge is verified, the moneytransfer service provider 170 then authorizes the money transfertransaction, and charges at least the amount of the money transfertransaction to the payment source account. In certain embodiments, forin-person pick up, the money transfer service provider 170 thentransmits information concerning the money transfer transaction to anassociated money transfer facilitator 160 at a location in proximity tothe recipient (e.g., to a retail location 140 associated with moneytransaction service provider in proximity to the location of therecipient) for completion of the money transaction.

By way of example, payment may be made to the payee 130 at a retaillocation 140. Examples of retail locations include Western Union™locations, check cashing store fronts, payday loan stores, currencyexchanges, bill payment stores, banks, etc. These retail locations 140are arranged in an affiliate network such that the payor may specify anylocation 140 for making the money available. In some embodiments, thepayee 130 does not have a specified retail location 140, but can receivethe money at any retail location 140. The retail location 140 verifiesthe payee is properly associated with the identifier specified by thepayor 110. In some cases, this may involve asking for a test phrase orpassword from the payee or checking identification in the conventionalmanner. Some embodiments may use biometric information to further verifythe identity of the payee 130.

In other embodiments, the money transfer transactions may fund directlyinto the account of a payee 130, rather than being set up for anin-person pick up at a retail location 140. For example, the moneytransfer may transfer directly into a bank account, credit card account,consumer service provider account (e.g., utility company account,wireless telecommunication service provider account, restaurateuraccount, consumer retail store account, etc.) of payee 130. Inaccordance with certain such embodiments, the money transfer may be usedfor bill pay purposes.

To reduce the risk that a transaction will not be successfully performedand that the payment transfer will not settle, the FRSS 185 and theauthentication service 180 may optionally be used. The FRSS 185 scoresthe risk the transaction will result in a charge/debit card chargebackor unauthorized payment source account charge. Some or all of the payorinformation, transaction information and payment source accountinformation is passed to the FRSS 185, which produces a numerical score.Additionally, the wireless communication device account/phone numberused by the payor 110 is passed to the FRSS 185 such that an userprofile information associated with the wireless communication device120 can be determined and compared against the payor providedinformation. The FRSS 185 uses regression analysis against historicalinformation on other transactions and/or information gathered outsidethe money transfer system 100 to produce the numerical score. The moneytransfer service provider 170 processes the score to decide if thetransaction should progress further, fail or be verified manually by ahuman operator.

After each transaction or in a periodic batch, information ontransactions is passed to the FRSS 185 to update the historicalinformation. Included in the historical information is a failure riskscore, an authentication score, a settlement result, the payorinformation, the transaction information, and the source information.The historical information could also include reason codes from thescoring processes to explain reasons for the scores. This embodimentuses a CCScan™ product available from Shared Global™ for the failurerisk scoring service 185. In this embodiment, updating of the historicalinformation allows the failure risk scoring to adaptively score risk. InTable I below, possible reason codes or response codes for oneembodiment are shown.

TABLE I Response Code Code Description 01 Important Application DataMissing 02 Deceased Social Security Number (SSN) 03 SSN Issued Prior toDate of Birth 04 Possible Stolen Identity Fraud 05 Possible Move-InFraud 06 Invalid or Unissued SSN 07 Potentially Disconnected TelephoneNumber 08 Invalid Telephone Number 09 Telephone Number is Pager 10Telephone Number is Assigned to Mobile Service 11 Invalid Address 12 ZipCode Assigned to Post Office Box Only 13 Address has Suspect ApartmentUnit Designation 14 Higher Risk Commercial or Institutional Address 15Higher Risk Commercial or Institutional Telephone Number 16 TelephoneNumber Zip Code Mismatch 17 Full Name and Address Matches on High RiskDM File 18 Significant Address Matches on High Risk DM File 19 Unable toVerify Applicant Name, Address, SSN and Telephone Number 20 Unable toVerify Applicant Name, Address and Telephone Number 21 Unable to VerifyApplicant Name and Telephone Number 22 Unable to Verify Applicant Nameand Address 23 Unable to Verify Applicant Name and SSN 24 Unable toVerify Applicant Address and SSN 25 Unable to Verify Applicant Address26 Unable to Verify Applicant SSN 27 Unable to Verify ApplicantTelephone Number 28 Unable to Verify Applicant Date of Birth 29Potential Data Miskey - SSN 30 Potential Data Miskey - Address 31Potential Data Miskey - Telephone Number 32 Match to Office of ForeignAssets Control (OFAC) 34 Incomplete Verification

The authentication service 180 is used to score a risk that the paymentsource information is not associated with the payor 110 byauthenticating the payment source account and payor 110. Fraud oftenoccurs where a payor impersonates another after stealing a wirelesscommunication device 120 and/or payment source account information. Theauthentication service 180 scores this risk using various databases tocheck the payor information and the source information. In oneembodiment, a First Data Solutions™ product called Fast Informer™ orFraudID™ is used. Other embodiments could use Instant ID Plus™ from RiskWise™, Clear Commerce™, and/or Retail Decisions™ products. A risk scoreis produced by the authentication service 180, which is analyzed by thepayment enabler 170 to determine if the transaction should be approved,denied or manually verified.

In this embodiment, the authentication service 180 detects fraud basedon confirming the identity of the payor 110 and validating the payorinformation, transaction information and payment source informationagainst databases. This technique addresses at least the following typesof fraud: stolen payment source account information, stolen identities,move-in fraud, and created identity fraud. Payor information isvalidated by checking that the phone numbers and addresses are valid.Also, the payor information, such as the name, address, phone number,social security number, driver's license number, and date of birth, canbe checked for consistency against consumer reporting agencies andpublic record databases. Some embodiments may only collect and check aportion of the social security number. The payor information is checkedagainst high-risk databases, such as phone numbers recentlydisconnected, consumers that have recently moved from the payor's state,consumers reported as deceased, consumers filing bankruptcy, high-riskaddresses (e.g., hotels, campgrounds, correctional facilities, etc.),social security number of a deceased consumer, and social securitynumbers issued prior to the date of birth. Transaction information andpayment source information is scrutinized by checking for first timeusers of the payment source or the velocity of recent activity with thepayment source originating with the money transfer system 100 andelsewhere.

A second test optionally performed by the FRSS 185 can result ingeneration of other response codes. This second test comparesinformation provided by the payor 110 against historical informationfrom previous transactions. Multiple criteria are used to analyze theprovided information. Additional response codes are possible from thisanalysis. Table II lists the six possible response codes for thisembodiment.

TABLE II Response Code Code Description 210 Negative Account Record 215Negative Location History 220 Account With Chargeback History 225Location With Chargeback History 230 Exceeds Card Profile 250Transaction Exceeds Location Profile

The third test optionally performed by the FRSS 185 involves scoring theinformation provided by the payor 110 against historical norms. Everynew transaction is entered into the FRSS 185 to update the historicaldatabase. As chargebacks, non-sufficient funds notices, or otherunfavorable settlements are determined that information is used toupdate the prior recorded transaction information. A numerical scorebetween 0-999 is produced for each presented transaction. One or morescore thresholds could be used to trigger such things as declining tofund the transaction online or requiring manual human validation of thetransaction. In one embodiment, a score below 336 requires manualvalidation before the transaction is funded. Although this embodimenthas the FRSS 185 performing a different process for assessing the riskof chargeback than that of FIG. 1, various embodiments could mix andmatch test elements from the above embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 2, a flow diagram of an embodiment of a methodfor processing a money transfer 200 is shown. The depicted portion ofthe process 200 begins in step 202 where the payor 110 accesses moneytransfer service provider 170 using a wireless communication device 120.In certain embodiments, payor 110 may access money transfer serviceprovider 170 via a pre-directed phone number. At step 204, the payor 110provides personal identification information to the money transferservice provider 170 via the wireless communication device 120. Asdescribed above, at least a portion of the personal identificationinformation is automatically provided based on user profile informationassociated with the wireless communication device account. Following tostep 206, the money transfer service provider 170 verifies the identityas a valid user of the wireless communication device based at least inpart on the personal identification information provided in step 204,and authenticates the payor 110 as an authorized user of the paymentsource account(s) associated with the wireless communication device 120to which the money transfer transaction will be charged.

Following step 206, or in connection with step 206, at step 208, payor110 provides money transfer instructions to the money transfer serviceprovider 170 via the wireless communication device 120. Again, the moneytransfer instructions will generally include at least the amount of themoney transfer transaction, payee 130 of the transaction, and the“location” of the money transfer transaction.

Moving on to step 210, the payment source account(s) associated with thewireless communication device is/are verified. As described above, step210 may occur following step 208, or at any time between step 202 andstep 208. In some cases, the payor 110 is verified as an authorized userof the payment source account, in connection with step 206. Further,during payment source account authentication, the status of the paymentsource account(s) is/are verified, e.g., to verify that the account isin good standing and active for charging. In certain embodiments, abalance adequate for the transaction may be verified. Where the paymentsource information cannot be verified, the money transfer transaction isdeclined in step 212 and the payor 110 is presented with a messagereferring him or her to a retail location 140 to fund the transaction.Based upon the payor information, retail locations that are presumedconvenient may be suggested.

Where the payment source account information is verified, the moneytransfer service provider 170 authorizes the money transfer transactionin step 214. Those transactions that are authorized in step 214, proceedto step 216 where the money transfer service provider 170 charges thepayment source account(s) associated with the wireless communicationdevice at least the amount of the money transfer transaction, andtransmits information concerning the money transfer transaction in step218 to an associated money transfer facilitator 160 to fund the transferto payee 130. In certain embodiments, in optional step 220, the fundsare made available to the payee 130 at the retail location 140. Forautomated authentication, this process takes around 10-15 seconds andthe entire transaction from beginning to end takes about 10 to 15minutes.

In certain embodiments, at optionally step 222 the payor 110 and/orpayee 130 may be notified when the money transfer transaction has beenfunded, received, and/or pick-up by payee 130. The notification may bevia any suitable notification manner known in the art, such as email,telephone call, text message, letter, and telegram. The payor 110 and/orpayee 130 may be notified of other aspects of the money transfertransaction method in a manner similar to those described in U.S. PatentPublication 2005/0119969, which is herein incorporated by reference inits entirety.

Where the funding is initially accepted, processing may optionallycontinue to step 225 where the historical information for thistransaction is stored in a user database(s) (not shown) and is reportedout to the FRSS 185. As clearing information is received for paymentsource accounts, updates may also be stored in the user database(s) andreported out to the FRSS 185.

If the authentication and verifications fail or if the payor 110 has notsuccessfully completed a transaction before, processing may optionallycontinue to step 2330 where the risk of a chargeback is assessed by theFRSS 185, and optional authentication service 180. Some embodiments onlysend some the transactions to the FRSS, while others send alltransactions to gather more data on the failures. A score is provided bythe FRSS 185 along with response codes. The payor 110 is referred to aretail location 140 for scores below a first threshold regardless ofreason codes and history. The payor 110 is passed to step 244 for scoresabove a second threshold (providing they have a favorable history and nonegative response code), if not they go to 246 for manual validation andoptional authentication by authentication service 180.

In certain embodiments, authentication and verification of the payor 130and the payment source account may optionally include application ofinternal business rules of the money transfer system 100. In variousembodiments, these business rules may or may not be active. The belowTable III shows business rules applied to the payment source accounttransaction and exemplary active/inactive state for this embodiment.However, any combination of active/inactive status identifier may beused as desired.

TABLE III Internal Business Rule Status Check that data required hasbeen entered Active Check that basic arithmetic functions on the cardnumber can be Active performed correctly Check that credit card formatsare correctly entered Active Check first 6 digits of card against listof valid bank Active identification nos. where foreign issued cards aremanually validated Check payee name against internal database InactiveCheck payor phone number against internal database Inactive Check cardnumber against internal database Active Check payor's account againstinternal database Active Check if card is also associated with anotheruser Active Check if the payor and payee have the same name and Activeare likely the same person which should be treated as a cash advanceunless a debit card is specified Check if the phone number is of anillegal format, for example, Active uses an illegal area code Check ifthe sender name does not match a name previously Active entered for theaccount Check if the payor already has an account by matching nameActive records, e-mail addresses, customer ID, etc.

If the internal business rules are performed successfully,authentication and verification may also include a velocity check on thenumber of transactions for a given time period. Various embodimentscould trigger manual validation where there are more than threetransactions in thirty days, more than three transactions that have goneto manual validation in thirty days, etc.

Where the transaction velocity is not triggered, authentication andverification may include a transaction amount check and an amountvelocity check. In this embodiment, manual validation by the manualauthentication function may be performed if the transaction amount is,e.g., one thousand dollars or more. Where the payor 110 has sent morethan two thousand dollars in the last thirty days, the amount velocitycheck may be triggered and manual validation of the transaction may beimplemented. If over $2,000, the payor may be referred to retaillocation 140 for funding.

As part of homeland security or other measures, money transfertransaction information may also be checked against agovernment-supplied hot list of information (not shown). This couldinclude checking any of information provided by the payor 110 againstlists or rules provided by the government. For instance, the Office ofForeign Assets Control provides the government hot list, but any numberor combination of government hot lists could be checked. Whereinformation matches the hot list, this information may be investigated.The investigation could be performed by the money transfer serviceprovider 170 staff and/or government agents. If the match to thegovernment hot list is determined to be a false positive after properinvestigation, processing of the money transfer transaction maycontinue.

A number of variations and modifications of the invention can also beused. For example, the above embodiments have a number of steps that arepreformed to reduce the risk of fraud. Other embodiments could use anysubset of these steps to achieve a balance between efficiency and fraud,and certain of the step may be combined to improve efficiency. While inthe above embodiment the payee picks up the money at a retail location,other embodiments could use the system to pay any payee in an onlinetransaction where the money is electronically available to the payee.

While the principles of the invention have been described above inconnection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearlyunderstood that this description is made only by way of example and notas limitation on the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a computersystem, and from a communication network, a request for a money transfertransaction from a user via a mobile device communicating on thecommunication network, wherein: the mobile device is associated with atleast one source account; the mobile device is associated with a serviceaccount maintained by a wireless communication provider; and the requestincludes a biometric reading of a biometric characteristic of the user;receiving, at the computer system, money transfer instructions from theuser via the mobile device, wherein the money transfer instructionsinclude at least an amount and a recipient; receiving, at the computersystem, a biometric record associated with the service account from thewireless communication provider; verifying, with the computer system,the status of the at least one source account and determining if theamount may be charged against the source account; verifying, with thecomputer system, a velocity of transactions per time does not exceed aparticular amount for the user; causing, with the computer system,validation of the money transfer transaction to occur when the velocityof transactions per time does exceed the particular amount; whereinvalidation comprises: transmitting, from the computer system, to afailure risk scoring service system, information regarding the moneytransfer transaction; and receiving, at the computer system, from thefailure risk scoring service system, a score indicative of a risk ofchargeback assessment; authorizing, with the computer system, the moneytransfer transaction if the at least one source account may be chargedthe amount and if the biometric reading matches the biometric record;declining, with the computer system, the money transfer transaction ifthe at least one credit account may not be charged the amount or thebiometric reading does not match the biometric record; charging, withthe computer system, the at least one source account at least a portionof the amount if the money transfer transaction is authorized; andtransmitting information concerning the money transfer transaction fromthe computer system to a money transfer facilitator associated with thecomputer system for completion of the money transfer transaction viaprovision of funds to the recipient if the money transfer transaction isauthorized.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the money transferinstructions are provided via the mobile device using a communicationmeans selected from the group consisting of: text messaging, interactivevoice response (IVR), direct verbal interaction with a customer servicerepresentative (CSR), an internet-based browser, and combinationsthereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient of the moneytransfer transaction is selected from the group consisting of anindividual, a financial services organization, a merchant and a consumerservice provider.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises verifying, with the computer system, the identity of the userbased at least in part on PIN information, password information,telephone number information associated with the mobile device asdetermined by automatic number identification (ANI), or combinationsthereof.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving money transferinstructions comprises the computer system obtaining, with ANI, the lastnumber dialed or the last call received by the mobile device.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the request is made via a pre-directed phonenumber.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the money transferfacilitator making a cash payment available to the recipient at a retaillocation in geographic proximity to the location of the recipient. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the user and/or the recipient arenotified, by the computer system, if and when the money transfertransaction is completed and/or if and when the recipient receives thefunds from money transfer transaction.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: causing, with the computer system, manual, non-automated,validation of the money transfer transaction to occur when the velocityof transactions per time does exceed the particular amount.
 10. A methodcomprising: receiving, at a computer system, and from a communicationnetwork, a request for a money transfer transaction from a user via amobile device communicating on the communication network, wherein: themobile device is associated with at least one source account; and therequest includes an identification of the user and a biometric readingof a biometric characteristic of the user; receiving, at the computersystem money transfer instructions from the user via the mobile device,wherein the money transfer instructions include at least an amount and arecipient; verifying, with the computer system, the status of the atleast one source account and determining if the amount may be chargedagainst the source account; verifying, with the computer system, avelocity of transactions per time does not exceed a particular amountfor the user; causing, with the computer system, validation of the moneytransfer transaction to occur when the velocity of transactions per timedoes exceed the particular amount, wherein validation comprises:transmitting, from the computer system to a failure risk scoring servicesystem, information regarding the money transfer transaction; andreceiving, at the computer system from the failure risk scoring servicesystem, a score indicative of a risk of chargeback assessment;authorizing, with the computer system, the money transfer transaction ifthe at least one source account may be charged the requested amount,declining, with the computer system, the money transfer transaction ifthe at least one source account may not be charged the requested amount;charging, with the computer system, the at least one source account atleast a portion of the amount if the money transfer transaction isauthorized; sending, from the computer system, instructions for displayon the mobile device referring the user to a retail location of a moneytransfer service to complete the money transfer transaction if the moneytransfer transaction is declined; and transmitting informationconcerning the money transfer transaction from the computer system to amoney transfer facilitator associated with the computer system if themoney transfer transaction is authorized.
 11. A non-transitory machinereadable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructionsexecutable by at least one processor to at least: receive, from acommunication network, a request for a money transfer transaction from auser via a mobile device communicating on the communication network,wherein: the mobile device is associated with at least one sourceaccount; the mobile device is associated with a service accountmaintained by a wireless communication provider; and the requestincludes a biometric reading of a biometric characteristic of the user;receive money transfer instructions from the user via the mobile device,wherein the money transfer instructions include at least an amount and arecipient; receive a biometric record associated with the serviceaccount from the wireless communication provider; verify the status ofthe at least one source account and determining if the amount may becharged against the source account; verify a velocity of transactionsper time does not exceed a particular amount for the user; causevalidation of the money transfer transaction to occur when the velocityof transactions per time does exceed the particular amount; whereinvalidation comprises: transmitting to a failure risk scoring servicesystem, information regarding the money transfer transaction; andreceiving from the failure risk scoring service system, a scoreindicative of a risk of chargeback assessment; authorize the moneytransfer transaction if the at least one source account may be chargedthe amount and if the biometric reading matches the biometric record;decline the money transfer transaction if the at least one creditaccount may not be charged the amount or the biometric reading does notmatch the biometric record; charge the at least one source account atleast a portion of the amount if the money transfer transaction isauthorized; and transmit information concerning the money transfertransaction to a money transfer facilitator for completion of the moneytransfer transaction via provision of funds to the recipient if themoney transfer transaction is authorized.
 12. The non-transitory machinereadable medium of claim 11, wherein the money transfer instructions areprovided via the mobile device using a communication means selected fromthe group consisting of: text messaging, interactive voice response(IVR), direct verbal interaction with a customer service representative(CSR), an internet-based browser, and combinations thereof.
 13. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein therecipient of the money transfer transaction is selected from the groupconsisting of an individual, a financial services organization, amerchant and a consumer service provider.
 14. The non-transitory machinereadable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are furtherexecutable by at least one processor to verify the identity of the userbased at least in part on PIN information, password information,telephone number information associated with the mobile device asdetermined by automatic number identification (ANI), or combinationsthereof.
 15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11,wherein receiving money transfer instructions comprises obtaining, withANI, the last number dialed or the last call received by the mobiledevice.
 16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11,wherein the request is made via a pre-directed phone number.
 17. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein theinstructions are further executable by at least one processor toinstruct the money transfer facilitator making a cash payment availableto the recipient at a retail location in geographic proximity to thelocation of the recipient.
 18. The non-transitory machine readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable byat least one processor to notify the user and/or the recipient if andwhen the money transfer transaction is completed and/or if and when therecipient receives the funds from money transfer transaction.
 19. Thenon-transitory machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein theinstructions are further executable by at least one processor to: causemanual, non-automated, validation of the money transfer transaction tooccur when the velocity of transactions per time does exceed theparticular amount.
 20. The non-transitory machine readable medium ofclaim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable by at leastone processor to send instructions for display on the mobile devicereferring the user to a retail location of a money transfer service tocomplete the money transfer transaction if the money transfertransaction is declined.